Most professional winemakers develop a crush plan each year because they know
hasty decisions made during a frantic crush can adversely influence wine
quality. Home winemakers can also benefit from a crush plan, particularly if
grapes will be purchased or if some equipment will be borrowed rented.

Fruit

The first step in
developing a crush plan is to decide what kinds and quantities of wine will
be produced. These decisions should be made early in the season. Once these
decisions are made, the winemaker can estimate the varieties and quantities
of grapes needed. Then, sources of outside fruit should be contacted. Grape
purchase arrangements should be made early, preferably before the 4th of
July. Always discuss harvest criteria, cost of the fruit, who will pick, etc.
with the grower. Understanding that harvest times cannot be scheduled is
important. Picking times are determined by vineyard location, the weather,
irrigation schedules and many other factors, and many of these factors are
unpredictable. Precise harvest schedules are not possible, so conscientious
winemakers periodically check on how the grapes are ripening.

Supplies

The minimum supplies
needed to start small fermentations are Clorox, sulfite, tartaric acid and
wine yeast. Other winemaking supplies such as citric acid, ML culture,
sulfite, Bentonite, gelatin, Sparkolloid,
other finning materials, TSP, Clorox, filter media,
laboratory chemicals, etc. should be
checked, and any missing materials should be ordered. Orders for supplies
should be placed early
because suppliers are very busy just before and during a crush session.

Home winemakers
often get together and purchase supplies in commercial quantities to reduce
costs. For example, a 500-gram package of Prise de
Mousse yeast sells for about $10.00, and a 5-gram packets sell for $1.00. If
very much wine is made, 5-gram packets are an expensive way of buying yeast.

Equipment

The winemaking
equipment should be taken out of storage, assembled and carefully inspected
well before the first grapes of the season are picked. Any needed repairs
should be made, and the equipment should be scrubbed down with TSP (buy at
paint stores). The equipment should then be carefully rinsed (at least three
times) and drained completely. Tanks and containers should be checked for
leaks and carefully cleaned. Special attention will be needed if barrels have
been stored empty. Arrangements for borrowing or renting winemaking equipment
should be made several weeks ahead of the crush session. After the
arrangements have been made, the winemaker should continue to keep in touch
with the supplier. This way, last minute surprises about the equipment
availability can often be avoided.

Grapes Are
Perishable

Oxidation and
biological changes start when the grapes are picked, so grapes should be
processed quickly. An exception to the above rule sometimes occurs when
grapes are picked late on a warm day. Hot fermentations are often disastrous,
so in this situation, letting the fruit sit overnight to cool down may be the
lesser of two evils. Try to avoid warm fruit. Talk to the grower. Get to the
vineyard early in the morning on picking day. If a grower provides warm fruit
year after year, find another supplier. However, be realistic, sometimes
picking grapes late in the day is unavoidable.

Grape
Processing

Add a level, « tsp
measure of sulfite powder for each 100 pounds of fruit. Dissolve the sulfite
in a small amount of water, and add it to the grapes as they are being
crushed. If the fruit is hot or contains much rot, use twice as much sulfite.

Crushing can be done
by hand, by foot or by machine. The general idea is to break the grape skins
so the juice can flow. The pulp and skins should not be ground into small
pieces and the seeds
should never be broken or even cracked. Here is an easy method. Place a
clean plastic milk crate
on top of a clean plastic trash can. Pick up a double hand full of grapes.
Place them over the milk crate and squeeze. Drop the grapes into the crate.
Squeeze several hands full into the crate. Scrub the grapes and juice through
the bottom of the crate with your hand. Remove the stems from the crate and
then squeeze more grapes. All of the grape skins will not be broken but the
whole grapes will not cause a problem.

Be prepared to test
the fruit when it is crushed so any necessary pre fermentation adjustments
can be made. Pre fermentation acid adjustments should be made using tartaric
acid, not acid blend. Sugar adjustments should be made with ordinary white,
household sugar. But, the grapes are not mature if sugar additions are
needed, and immature grapes produce poor quality wine.

Fermentation
Temperatures

High quality,
fruity, white wines like Riesling, Muscat
or Chenin Blanc are fermented at temperatures
ranging from 50 to 65 degrees. Barrel fermented white wines such as
Chardonnay are fermented at temperatures ranging from 60 to 70 degrees. Red
wines are often fermented at 70 to 90 degrees. Making fruity white wines at
high fermentation temperatures often produces disappointing results, so
realistic fermentation plans are needed. Home winemakers should limit their
production to red wines if fermentation temperatures cannot be maintained
below 70 degrees.

Cap
Management

Red wine production
requires careful cap management. For small fermentations, the usual procedure
is to punch down the cap by hand. A minimum of two punch downs per day is
desirable. Frequent punching down can extract more color, tannin and flavors,
so some winemakers punch down every few hours when making full-bodied red
wines.

Determining exactly
when to press red fermentations is an important part of the winemaking art.
Light, fruity, red wines are usually pressed when the sugar ferments down to
a few Brix. Full-bodied red wines are often pressed
at zero Brix. Under most conditions, pressing a
little too early is better than pressing too late.

Summary

Lots of things can
and often do go wrong during a crush season, so make a crush plan. However,
be prepared to change your plan if the grapes are not suitable for the
intended style of wine. Sometimes grapes are picked too early or too late,
and changes in the plan are needed. Trying to make a big red wine from
under-ripe grapes is unrealistic. Using under-ripe fruit to make a blush wine
is often a better alternative.

A good approach is to start each harvest season with a well-thought out plan,
but always be flexible.